TELECOMMUNICATIONS
of Communications. These Telework Partners
are showing leadership in driving this change,
as organisations that want to thrive in the new
economy need to understand how ‘anywhere
working’ fits into their future business strategies.
To address the challenges faced by managers
and workplaces trying to implement telework
policies, the Department of Communications
has produced a Telework Kit and Telework
Training Program that cover issues of technology
infrastructure, processes and policies and
people management. These tools seek to help
organisations understand how to leverage
the internet and other digital technologies
to improve productivity, competitiveness and
workplace flexibility.
The Digital Enterprise and Digital Business Kits
programs are also helping to address the skills and
capability gap in many organisations as they seek
to adapt to the demands of the digital economy.
While the private and not-for-profit sector are
leading the uptake of telework as part of flexible
work practices, the Australian Public Service is
catching up. In June 2013, seven agencies signed
up to conduct trials of high-speed broadbandenabled telework, with a view to implementing
telework as a normal part of flexible workplace
practices in the Australian Public Service, which
has been a leader in flexible work. These agencies
are The Treasury, the Department of Immigration
and Border Protection, the Australian Tax Office,
The Department of Employment, the Department
of Industry, the Department of Communications
and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
We all need to understand that leveraging digital
technologies and connectivity to create an agile
workforce and gain competitive advantage is
crucial to meeting the 24/7 needs of customers in
a global marketplace.
A new challenge for workplace relations is how
to juggle this demand for flexibility and ensure
that it is valued by employers and employees
alike. The Australian Work and Life Index survey
published last year found that 41 percent of
workers take work home and about half those
hours were unpaid. It estimated that the average
employee who took work home last year donated
three weeks of labour annually – almost as much
as their annual leave entitlement.
To extend the reach of its Telework
Partner organisations, the Department of
Communications is working with four of its
Telework Partners to coordinate stakeholder
engagement networks. These are the Telework
Leadership and Management Network,
the Sustainable Digital Cities Network, the
Teleworkforce Participation and Social Inclusion
Network and the Australia Anywhere Working
Research Network. The aim is to drive thought
leadership, innovation and research on
overcoming barriers to telework and leveraging
the drivers for making it a part of flexible
workplace practices.
A recent development, pursued through the
Sustainable Digital Cities Network, is the
establishment of smart work hubs in communities
in the regional and outer urban growth corridors
of Brisbane-Gold Coast, Sydney-NewcastleWollongong, Melbourne and Perth.
Because of the increasing jobs deficit in many
of these areas, local workforce populations of
between 20,000 and 40,000 face long commutes
of up to five hours each day. Smart work hubs
provide a digitally-enabled office environment
where people in regional or outer urban areas can
work, as an alternative to teleworking from home.
Work hubs are already popular in the
Netherlands, South Korea and Singapore where
they have been established for freelancers, local
businesses and social enterprises, in an effort to
drive local economic and cultural vibrancy.
A new report, Breaking the Productivity Impasse
by the Third Spaces Group, calls on local, state
and Commonwealth governm